Background and Objectives: Most of women experience severe and intolerable labor pain. Today, due to side effects of pharmacological analgesics on mothers and neonates, attention to non-pharmacological and complementary medicine methods such as aromatherapy has increased. This study aimed to investigate the effect of aromatherapy with rose water on labor pain in nulliparous women.

Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was performed on 80 nulliparous women who referred to Ahvaz Amir-Al-Momenin Hospital, Iran, during 2014. Women were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups equally. In the intervention group, inhalation with rose water was done during active phase of labor, while in control group women just received routine cares. Pain severity in both groups was measured once before the intervention and three times after intervention in dilation of 4-6 cm, 6-8 cm and 8-10 cm by visual analogue scale. Data was analyzed by chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, and independent t-test.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the studied groups regarding to pain severity before the intervention (p= 0.223). After intervention, in dilation of 4-6 cm (p= 0.312) and 6-8 cm (p= 0.300), no significant difference was observed between the groups; while in dilation of 8-10 cm this difference was significant (p= 0.023).

Conclusion: Based on the results, it seems that aromatherapy with rose water can decrease labor pain; however, other studies are recommended to confirm our results.

Key words: Aromatherapy, Rose water, Labor pain, Nulliparous women

Funding: This research was funded by Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences.

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences approved the study.